Kochi: Asian champions Sri Lanka were shocked by the young Namibia by crushing the islanders by 55 runs in the opening match of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia today.
Despite losing the toss and being forced to bat first, Namibia played splendidly and did not show any fear or lack of confidence before the 1996 world cup winners.
Frylinck played a class innings to make 44 and was unlucky to dismissed through run out. K J Smit hit 31, Bard 26, Erasmus and Loftie-Eaton 20 each. For Sri Lanka, Madhushan took two wickets while Theekshana, Chameera, Karunaratne took two each.
Namibia was deadly from the start of the attack which not only prevented Sri Lanka from taking the freedom to hit big shots but also kept losing wickets at quick intervals.
Captain Shanaka showed some resistance by hitting the highest 29 supported by Rajapaksa with 20. After showing wonders with the bat, all rounder Frylinck was successful with the ball as he took two wickets, so did Wiese, Sholtz and Shikongo.
